h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

At first it was pretty exciting, making me feel like a private eye or something, following one clue, then another...

...and then it all blew up in my face!

What? Oh, a major case of embezzlement... (had to look that word up in the dictionary, never had any need to use it before)

As some of you know, I had a pretty bad cold last week - and so did my colleague, who had helped me with the digging-after-clues-and-then-evidence.

We both stayed home from work, but I was the first to return, on Monday. My colleague is still home, now nursing her small son who's ill.

And I'm being practically besieged by the police requesting evidence for the prosecutor but, even worse, the firm of accountants that are to turn over every little piece of turf trying to determine the exact proportion of this embezzlement!

Plus I'm stuck with some of the investigating work because of my extensive experience of the kind of position/work that the criminal (no question about it, not any more) had.

All this is taking up all my time (and some overtime) and meanwhile the pile of my usual everyday tasks which I've been forced to put on an indeterminate hold is growing, and growing, and growing!

I didn't even have time to log on to h2g2 from work today at all - is that a sign that I was busy, or what?

@ What else can I say. I don't like other people create a mess for me, I can very well do it myself.I really wouldn't want to be in your shoes atm.

don't know what to say, just go with the flow is about it really

Extensive experience of the kind the criminal had? Is there something you're not telling us Titania?

It is exciting, though. And a break from the routine. I think you should enjoy it. I never get to investigate anthing more exciting than lost books.

So, Titania, can we now call you a 'sleuth'? Or would you prefer 'operative'?

From where I'm sitting it all looks rather exciting. Which is absolutely no help to you.

Anyway you can delegate some of your everyday tasks?

Eh - no, it's a bit tough to delegate my tasks. My 'daily routines' are all various projects, that I've now put on hold.

And I'm the only one in my department doing projects, the others have 'same thing every day' tasks. One of them is the colleague who helped me with some of the digging, and as she's still at home with sick kid, my other colleagues have to do her tasks now. Which doesn't really leave much time for them to help me digging.

As for the experience - I've had the same position/job as the embezzler. I'm amazed and impressed by how very imaginative he's been, using methods I'd never thought of!

That's one of my most recent projects by the way - to come up with methods how to prevent others from using any of his methods, or how to detect if anyone has come up with the same idea/s.

I hope you get a bonus for your trouble

I imagine that one of the schemes includes setting up bogus vendors that bill the company for supplies/services never delivered. And duplicate sets of checks with check numbers and amounts that match legitimate checks so that cursory audits look clean.

Happened at a bank I used to work for. I always knew there was something funky about that guy.

Blimey, may you live in intersting times indeed. At least you were able to help catch the crook T

Good luck! Hope you nail that bandit good!


Milla

So... my next project was to put together a control procedure that would expose any of the methods used.

It was tested, and then sent out to all.

And then one hotel called and asked for help with the procedure - and we discovered that there's a fault in the very last formula in the form! Arrrghhh! I wrecked my brain trying to come up with the procedure, turning it inside/out and upside/down - and there's a plus where there should have been a minus!

Oh well - I'd better correct it and send out another mail...

Will you be monitoring the results?

Yep, I will - I've already discovered that not all follow the cash procedures as being described in our accounting manual (last updated in June last year).

The tricky thing is to come up with a manual on how to find differences that show up on the form - even I have problems finding the reasons!

maybe you can put the manual in Peer Review, the s here will find the problems for you

Good idea, Marjin!

I think creating these kind of manuals should be done together with security professionals, where you add the specific info about how things are done at your place.

Unless I am mistaken about your job and your background, they ask you now to produce things way beyond your expertise.

*bangs head into wall*

Clever, clever me - the control procedure I created spots every little tiny adjustment concerning cash that the hotels make - but I've discovered it's not that easy to find the reason for the differences.

So guess who's helping the hotels to find the reasons? So far, I've done 12, and have another 7 waiting in my mailbox...

Once I'm done, I think I'll have to write a manual on how to search for differences... *sighs*

-It will be all right.
-Yes, but how will it be all rigth?
-I don't know, it's a mystery...

(loosely quoted from Shakespeare in love)

O.T: And thanks for the Mobile help for Pierce!

Milla